Dark AU fic in which the first few episodes of S2 have been placed before Pollo Loco. When familiar murders arise in Seattle, Alec is forced to confront the man he thought he had conquered in his nightmares.

It wasn't like he didn't know what the man looked like. After all, Alec saw the same person Max and Logan were now discussing every day in his mirror. He didn't need-and want-to be reminded that everything but nearly one million parts of his 3.2 billion part DNA were shared with the same whack-job that Max believed to be her rogue brother.

"…he'll strike again," Logan was saying as the image of a muddy barcode flashed on the computer screen. He continued talking, but Alec drowned out the cyberjournalist's conversation, clearly bored with the obvious statements Logan declared with such horror.

Of course he'll strike again, Alec thought to himself, tossing one of the many honey-roasted peanuts he had swiped from Logan's kitchen into his mouth. Why wouldn't he strike again? Boy may be demented, but he ain't stupid-unlike his "sister" who believes he, "just doesn't understand". He understands. Nobody performs sacrificial murders without some sort of higher intelligence. Tilting his head back, Alec proceeded to catch another scrumptious nut as Max and Logan continued their background rambling.

"Where was the body found?" Max asked, leaning over to peer at the screen.

"Couple miles north of here…Max you aren't actually planning to go-are you?" Logan questioned, naturally worried about his girlfriend's safety.

"I have to…I have to…talk to him. Make him see what he's doing."

Alec, from his lazy position on the couch, barked a sarcastic laugh. "You really think he's going to want to talk?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max challenged, entering the living-room with an arched eyebrow where Alec was sprawled on the luxurious furniture.

"If this brother of yours-"

"Ben," she corrected him, while Logan watched the two X5s battle it out in his house. After all, since he had met Max, his penthouse seemed to be the weekly meeting place of rogue X5s, so one more confrontation didn't surprise him.

"Yeah, Ben. If he's really as psychotic as everyone claims him to be, the last thing he's going to want to do is sit down to a nice cup of tea and talk."

"How would you know?"

"A person doesn't spend a good six months in psy-ops merely because it sounds like a way to kill some excess time. I was put there to figure out what the hell could've gone wrong with Ben 'cause we do happen to share some genes," Alec responded, rising to his feet.

"Well then, you can just come with me," she shot back, tilting her head to the side in an attempt to examine his words fuller, with typical Max cockiness.

"Since when?"

"Since you obviously want to get revenge on him for that half a year in psy-hell."

Alec shrugged aimlessly as he poured the remaining handful of peanuts into his mouth. "Reading in between the lines there," he replied, chewing dully, "but hey, my life as a prized X5 soldier on the run from a secret government agency needs a little bit of spice, so sure, let's go."

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